Cassie's Life
by gufis253
Summary: Sixteen years into the future. Cassie is Luke and Lorelai's daughter. See what her life is like when it comes to her parents, Rory and Jess, life in a small town, and her best buds. bits of romance between 14 year olds, a bit of LL, some RJ


**CHAPTER ONE: LET'S TALK **

Lorelai was sitting down in front of the television, watching Willy Wonka, yet again, when her fourteen year old daughter ran into the house.

"Mom, Mom, I need your help for something."

Lorelai turned around on the couch to see what the sudden excitement was all about.

"What?"

"I have to do this thing for school. We're supposed to write a story about one or both of our parents."

"Okay. What do you want to do?"

Cassie grinned from ear to ear as she sat down on the sofa beside her mother.

"Well, I want to do how you and Daddy got together."

Lorelai looked down to the ground shyly. "Sweetie, I don't think everyone wants to hear about how your boring old parents ended up together. If you want, I can tell you all about what happened when I had Rory."

"No, Mom. Everyone thinks you and Dad are so awesome. They all know that you two got together in an _interesting_ way, and all of my friends think I'll win the whole award thing they're doing for the best story in our class. Please, Mom? Pretty, pretty, pretty please with lots of ice cream and cherries on top? I'll buy you pie for a week!"

"Okay, first of all, your dad would be really mad if everyone heard about his personal life, you know how he gets. Second, if everyone already knows, why write a story about it? Third, you would win an award for the story of Rory and I. And fourth, I don't need you to buy me pie for a week because Dad already gives it to us on the house."

Cassie gave her mother the traditional Gilmore puppy eyes and pouty lip that always cracked Luke. Lorelai looked at her daughter and at the look she used so many times when she wanted her way.

"Alright, I'll do it, but only if I get to write it my way, and you can change it a little bit. I don't want some things in there, okay?"

Cassie grinned happily and agreed. "Sounds great. I hope you can go fast because it's due four days from now."

Lorelai looked a bit alarmed at first, but quickly recovered. "If you bring me the laptop, I'll start working on it right now."

The girl leapt up and ran towards her sister's room. Normally, Cassie was pretty much forbidden to go into Rory's bedroom unless Rory was home visiting. In its place on the desk was the turquoise laptop that they used all the time. It was out of date now, as it had been new back in 2000, when Rory received it from Lorelai for her sixteenth birthday. Cassie picked it up and bolted toward the doorway to leave the room as fast as possible. For some reason, Rory's bedroom, when she wasn't here, was like one of those bedrooms of kids in the '40's and '50's who had died tragically and their bedroom was completely locked up and no-one went inside it.

Lorelai had been working on paperwork for the Dragonfly Inn, now in its sixteenth year. It was still doing great, as was the diner, in, as Lorelai, Rory, and Cassie put it, its millionth year.

Cassie plopped down on the couch beside her mom and thrust the computer toward Lorelai.

"Here. _Please_ hurry. It's due Monday and it's already Wednesday, okay?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes and sarcastically said, "Yes, mother."

Cassie glared at her immature mom and said, "Okay, I've got to run. I'm meeting Carla, April, Jake, and Mike at the theatre."

"_Another_ date?"

"_MOM!_ It's _not_ a date! We're friends hanging out, that's all. Even if we wanted to be together, Dad would shoot him before he'd let Jake date me, and you know it."

This was a common conversation between Lorelai and Cassie, and a common fight between Luke and Lorelai. Lorelai thought that Jake was a great kid who liked her daughter, and her daughter liked him. Luke, however had immediate flashbacks of Dean and Rory.

"Go, get out of here. By th3e way, I don't care what happens between you two to a certain extent, just make sure it happens far away from Patty's, Babette's, the diner, or Taylor's."

Cassie grinned, then sadly looked down to the floor. Lorelai noticed the change in mood, and asked what was wrong.

"I just…are you and Dad, you know, _drifting_?"

Lorelai crunched her eyebrows together in confusion. "What?"

"Well, I mean, most of my friends' parents are divorced, and I know that you and Daddy have been spending less time alone, as in without me, and you guys seem uptight around each other, and you two fight more lately."

Lorelai lightened and hugged her daughter reassuringly. "Sweetie, your dad and I took vows years ago to stay together and married until death do us part. And we will always stay true to those vows, honey. Yes, I must admit, we are a bit on edge lately, but that's because of something happening that doesn't concern you. We just are disagreeing about something right now. Luke and I still love each other, and always will. Your dad is the only man I really, truly ever completely loved, and you know that. Everything is okay between us, though."

Cassie looked up at her mother, not completely convinced, but trying to be.

"Mom," she asked, "What exactly I sit that you are disagreeing about that doesn't concern me?"

"Ah, yes, you really are my daughter, aren't you?"

Cassie grinned, still waiting for an answer.

"Well, Cas, it may have something to do with a certain cousin of yours."

"What's he up to now?"

"Hon, okay, look, I know it's a little weird, and I'm sorry we hadn't told you sooner, but we only found out a week ago."

"**What **is **going on**?"

"Babe, you know about how Rory and Jess were together years ago, long before you were born…"

"Yes…"

"Well, a few months ago, Rory realized that she was still in love with Jess, and went back to Jess. Luke and I didn't know up until last week. They were going great, apparently, and Jess proposed."

Cassie winced. She knew exactly what was coming next.

"Rory said yes…" she finished for her mother.

"Yeah. Luke thinks it's good, and I'm trying to be happy for her, but I kept thinking about you and how it would be weird because he's your cousin, and she's your sister."

Cassie forced a smile. "Mom, stop bickering with Dad. It's fine. I guess I always knew that they'd end up together."

Lorelai nodded. "Alright then. One more hug."

As soon as Cassie had said goodbye, she began walking to the diner, where she and her friends would meet.

Walking through Stars Hollow at night was one of Cassie's favorite things to do. Everything was so peaceful then, except when they6 were doing some sort of freaky small town party.

When she arrived, both Carla and Jake were already at the diner waiting for her. Cassie dashed up the stairs and into the warm room. She, like her mother, could tell when snow was coming, and the two of them had decided on tomorrow morning.

"Hi, Daddy!" Cassie yelled happily, running up to Luke and giving him a huge hug which he gladly accepted.

"Hey, Cas, where are you guys going?"

"Oh, just the old theatre. We might pick up some ice cream later, too."

"You got enough on you?"

Cassie pulled out her wallet. "Um, I've only got a five on me, the rest is in my account."

Luke pulled out his own wallet and dug out a twenty. He smiled and handed it to his beautiful daughter.

"Thanks!" The fourteen year old said gladly. "I'll bring you back the change."

"Don't worry about it. You can keep it, okay?"

"Really?"

"Yep. Now, what do you and your friends want?"

"Um, I'll have a chocolate milkshake, Luke." Carla said quickly, followed by Jake's answer of, "I would like a chocolate fudge sundae, please, sir."

Luke rolled his eyes and said before his daughter got mad at him, "How many times do I have to tell you, it's Luke, not 'Sir', okay?"

"Yes, Luke." Jake answered.

"_Dad_, I'll have a chocolate donut and an ice cream cone…cookie dough, and maybe a small plate of fries."

"No." he said shortly.

"Dad…"

"Cassie Victoria Danes, you are not going to fill your body with the same amounts and kinds of foods as your sister and mother, and you know it. I'm not going to let you do that."

Cassie rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. I will have a strawberry milkshake."

"That wasn't even on your list!"

"So? I want one now."

"Coming right up." Luke knew not to fight with his daughter, or they'd end up in some sort of really weird conversation that he did not want to participate in, just like her mom.

Cassie sat down to join her friends.

"So, Carla, wanna come over tonight?"

"Uh, sure. I mean, if your mom and dad don't mind."

"Well, let's see. Dad will, Mom won't, so, yeah, come on over, Mom'll win anyway."

Carla grinned. She was Cassie's best friend. Always a lot of fun to hang out with, and _always_ hyper, Carla was nothing like her Grandmother's brother, Taylor Doose. Yes, she was the great niece of Taylor, the man who, although now in his seventies, still seemed to rule the town.

Jake suddenly piped up. "So, Cas, uh what's up with your dad? I mean, he's, like, so uptight."

Cassie shrugged. "I dunno. He's always been like that. It's kind of a mystery to everyone, except my mom, that is. Somehow, they totally understand each other. It's really weird."

Carla said then, "No, I think it's sweet. My parents haven't spoken in at least 10 years…oh, well, except for when they were fighting over when Dad had to pick me up from Mom's or vise-versa. They were divorced the day after I turned three. They were kind of friends until I was four, but a week and a half after that birthday, they got into a massive fight about who's home I should live at during the week for school. It was either New York or here. I told them I already had friends here, so Mom won. That's why I have to go there every other weekend. Until I was eleven, I had to go every weekend, but my dad spoils me, so he said it was fine if I wanted to hang with my buds every other weekend. And that's why I go to New York every year a week before Spring Break and take extra schoolwork…I get to spend one week here, and one there."

That was one thing that Cassie worried about every day. Her parents usually seemed completely in love. Lately, though, Luke had been spending more and more time at the diner, and less and less at home. Lorelai was always at home with Cassie or at the inn, with Sookie. When they were both at home, it was always with Cassie there.

Jake could see the wave of sadness come over his almost-girlfriend's face as Carla spoke. He quickly elbowed his friend, and put an amr protectively around Cassie.

"Hey, what's with the face?"

Cassie looked up and put on a forced smile. Jake could tell it was fake, though.

"Nothing. I just…I uh, I dunno."

Jake said, "Carla, we'll be back in a minute, I need to talk to Cas for a sec, okay?"

"No problemo. I'll wait right here."

Jake took Cassie's hand, and led her outside and around the corner, out of site of Miss Patty's and away from all windows of the diner.

He took Cassie's other hand, then, and asked her, "What was all that about?"

She looked at the ground, particularly unhappy.

"You know you can tell me anything. I don't gossip about my best friend."

Cassie smiled slightly when he said that, as she knew that not only were they best friends, they were more than friends.

"Okay," she began slowly. "When Carla started talking about how bad it can get between two people who once loved each other, I wonder if it's going to happen to _my_ parents. I mean, thy have been fighting openly, like in front of me, a lot lately. They've also been spending less and less time together. The only time they're around each other, it seems, is at night while they're asleep, or when they are spending time with me."

Jake laughed a little. "Cassie, you have _got to _stop doubting your mom and dad. Maybe there is a reason for the fighting…did you hear anything?"

"Well, I think it has something to do with Rory and Jess."

"Ooh, as in Rory your sister and Jess your cousin?"

"Yep. I think they are back together."

"Well, from what I've heard, they have never completely agreed on who Rory should and shouldn't date, especially Jess."

"Maybe you're right. It was probably nothing important. I should listen in more and get details, then I won't be as freaked out."

"Right. Now let's go back inside before April and Mike get here."

Cassie nodded and went back into Luke's. The three best and closest friends waited for ten more minutes, eating what they had ordered (always on the house for Cassie and her buds), and then April and Mike came in. Then the five fourteen year olds walked over to the Black White and Read theatre.


End file.
